Blog Tour : Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

Blog Tour

Read My Review

About the Book

Life has been nothing but unfair to Grace Parkes and her sister. Penniless, the two orphans manage to stay alive-but only barely, like so many on the streets of Victorian London. And Grace must bear a greater heartbreak, having become pregnant from terrible circumstances and then given birth to a stillborn baby. But the infant's death sets Grace on a new path, bringing her into contact with people who hold both riches and power. A great fraud has been perpetrated on young Grace and her sister, and they are the secret recipients of a most unusual legacy-if only they can find the means to claim it. Mary Hooper's latest offers Dickensian social commentary, as well as malicious fraud, mysterious secrets, and a riveting read.

About the Author 

Mary Hooper is a very popular writer for children and young adults. Mary's brilliant historical novels, At the House of the Magician, By Royal Command, At the Sign of the Sugared Plum, Petals in the Ashes and The Extraordinary Life and Times of Eliza Rose have a huge fan base, as do her contemporary novels for teenagers. Mary is very much in demand for her events at literary festivals and schools. She lives in England.

More Teen Titles by Mary Hooper


At the House of the Magician
By Royal Command
The Betrayal
The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose
 Petals in the Ashes
Amy

Visit Mary @ MaryHooper.Co.Uk

A special Thank You to Kate from Bloomsbury Kids for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.

Blog Tour : Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

Blog Tour

Read My Review

About the Book

When you're the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can't write it. Alice needs a story for her mother-and she needs one fast.

That's when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol's voice in her head and see things she can't explain, she must face the truth-that she's either inherited her mother's madness, or Errol is for real.

About the Author

Suzanne Selfors is the author of Saving Juliet as well as a middle grade series with Little, Brown. She held a number of jobs before becoming a writer, including children's photographer, video producer, organic flower grower, and marketing director. She lives in Washington.

More Teen Titles by Suzanne Selfors

Saving Juliet (Amazon)

Coffeehouse Angel (Amazon)

Visit Suzanne @ SuzanneSelfors.com

A special Thank You to Kate from Bloomsbury Kids for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.

Blog Tour : Desire Me by Robyn DeHart

Desire Me by Robyn DeHart
Historical Romance

The Legend Hunters . . .

The Men of Solomon's meet in secret, their very existence only a rumor among the best of Victorian society. They are treasure hunters, men of wealth and title, seekers of myths and legends. And no legend is as mystifying as the lost city of Atlantis . . .

DESIRE ME

Years ago, Maxwell Barrett found a map to Atlantis and dedicated his life to the search for the mystical lost continent. But when an alluring woman makes a wager for the priceless artifact, he may have discovered an even greater treasure.

A descendant of Atlantis, Sabine Tobias needs the map to decipher an ancient prophecy. What she doesn't need are the sparks flying between her and Max. He's too devilishly charming to be trusted: The fate of her people is at stake as well as her heart. Yet a ruthless killer also covets the map. Now Max and Sabine must race to decode the prophecy's riddle before this criminal fulfills his deadly mission.  

About the Author

I'm one of those writers who always knew that she wanted to be a writer. It took me a while, however, to figure out precisely what I wanted to write. Reading Kathleen Woodiwiss' "A Rose in Winter" sealed the deal for me and I've been reading and writing romance ever since. I should have known I was destined for this when my Barbies insisted on hosting elaborate masquerade parties, complete with stolen kisses in the moonlight.

I'm the youngest of three children, so of course I'm the favorite. I was raised in central Texas, in the beautiful Hill Country, right smack-dab between Austin and San Antonio. My parents were high school sweethearts and married a week after my mother graduated – they both needed their parents' permission to marry since they were so young. So I blame them and their amazing marriage for the fact that I'm a hopeless romantic. 

Somewhere along the line, I graduated from college with a degree in Sociology, only after completing an internship with none other than award-winning author, Pamela Morsi. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life and I learned more about the writing business than I could have hoped.

After college I worked a myriad of jobs: Computer Software Trainer, Recruiter, Administrative Assistant. But no matter what my day job, I come home to my real job and click, click, click away on my computer and get lost in my imaginary world where justice always prevails and the girl always gets her guy! It's the coolest job in the world.

I'm married to the most amazingly supportive man who makes me laugh every day. He's so proud of my career, and loves to tell people, "My wife is a romance novelist." We live in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, where my husband is a university professor.

We have two very spoiled cats who are of no help at all when it comes to my writing, although they sometimes nap in the same room where I sit diligently working.

After writing for seven years I sold my first book to Avon in 2004 and Courting Claudia was released in 2005. I had three other releases with Avon and have recently moved to Grand Central Publishing and am awaiting my first release with them. I love to hear from readers, so feel free to send me an email or you can find me online at my group blog, or at on my Facebook or MySpace pages. 

Five Fun Facts

1. One of the most fun aspects of writing Desire Me came from creating the scavenger hunt for Sabine and Max. It was a thrill to come up with all manners of danger to put them in. 

2. The underground bath is based on a real Roman bath that was unearthed by archeologists outside of Kent in 2004. My characters just happened to find it first. 

3. Desire Me is the first book I’ve written that has two villains. And they’re both deliciously evil—and one is a woman!

4. When I came up with the concept for the Legend Hunters series, the lost continent of Atlantis was the very first legend I thought of.

 

5. When writing the scenes with Queen Victoria, I swear I was channeling Judi Dench; I kept hearing her voice and imagining her mannerisms. She was the perfect inspiration for my Queen.

Blog Tour : Ni'il The Awakening by James Boyle

Ni'il : The Awakening by James Boyle
Dark Fantasy

Read my Review.

When several people are brutally killed in the town of Placerton, on the isolated Oregon coast, most locals think a rogue bear or cougar is roaming the forested hills near town. Police Chief Dan Connor is not so sure. He has witnessed some very strange things lately, such as disembodied voices, muttering a strange foreign language and an old Indian man who seems to be near every crime scene, but disappears before he can be questioned.Dan's investigation takes him to the local Sihketunnai Indians and their legend of the Ni'il, magical shamans charged with maintaining the balance between humans and the natural world. According to the elders, one of the Ni'il is responsible for the murders and intends to kill everyone in the community. It is Dan's job to stop it.It sounded unbelievable, but was the only explanation that fit the facts.As a violent Pacific storm crashes ashore, cutting off power and washing out roads-cutting the town off from the outside world--Dan finds himself entering a strange world of myth and magic that was not covered in his police training. He must use all his wits and new-found powers to save himself and his community from the Ni'il.
 

About the Author
James Boyle

Like all of us, James is a product of his environment.

He was raised in a religious/spiritual family and that spirituality pervades most of his work. He even attended a Catholic Seminary for a year before deciding the priesthood was not for him.

James’ father worked for the phone company as he was growing up, which was much like growing up in a military family. The company transferred his family from town to town every couple of years. By the time he’d graduated high school, they’d moved twenty times. He attended nine different schools in five cities and three states.

He lived mainly in North Dakota until he was eight, since then he lived in Washington and Oregon, moving to Gold Beach when he was sixteen. He finds that the landscape of the Pacific Northwest has done more to influence him than nearly everything else. Its vast forests, rugged mountains, seascapes and sparse population inspire recollections of what the pioneers first fell in love with a century and a half ago. From his house, he can still hike fifteen minutes and spend the entire day without seeing another human being. And the possibility exists that he could see sasquatch.

One of his goals is to build a dark fiction landscape of the Pacific Northwest, much like Stephen King has done with Maine. A landscape of dark possibilities.

When he was a child living in Bismark, North Dakota, his parents took James to Fort Abraham Lincoln, the fort Gen. Custer left on his last, fateful campaign and the Knife River Village, the restored ruins of a Mandan village. Now forty years later, the memories have faded, but not the memory of the impression the visits made on a small boy. Years later, he read Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. After that he devoured everything he could find about Native American history and culture. He came to have a deep sympathy for the Native peoples’ doomed resistance to the white culture and admiration for their cultural connection to the natural world around them. The dominant culture seeks to change and subjugate a nature it sees as an enemy; the Natives sought to live within the natural world as one part of a dynamic whole.

When he was eighteen, James was diagnosed with a severe case of scoliosis. After graduating early from Gold Beach High School in 1978, he underwent surgery that fused most of his lumber spine. Six months in a body cast later, he continued on to college at the University of Oregon, where he earned a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Now, forty years after the surgery, his body is beginning to break down a bit. So if you see him and notice he seems to be bent and twisted, you know why.

When he’s not writing, James has worked in the restaurant industry as a cook and as a manager, mostly in the Eugene/Springfield area, but most lately at Gold Beach’s Port Hole Cafe. Looking back, he seems to have a lot of scenes set in restaurants. He enjoy reading, playing an occasional video game, taking his dog for exploratory hikes along the beach or river. He is happily single. (it’s so much less complicated.)

Thank you Tracee from Pump Up Your Books for allowing me to be a part of this tour.

Blog Tour : Montana Destiny by R.C. Ryan

Thank you Anna of Hatchette books for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.

About the Book

Montana Destiny by R.C. Ryan

Release Date : May 1, 2010

Western Romance

They're the McCords...three rugged, sexy cowboy cousins who'll inherit the family range--if they seek the treasure hidden on it. But even more precious are the women who can tame their wild hearts...

Emergency medic Marilee Trainor likes her freedom and lives for trouble. But when she stumbles upon a clue to the legendary McCord gold, she 's suddenly in a mysterious killer's sights--and the arms of irresistible playboy Wyatt McCord. This McCord cousin has been everywhere, yet the ranch is the only place he feels at home. Now Marilee's courage and independence make him want to protect her, win her heart, and finally settle down. But trust is the one thing Wyatt and Marilee can't easily give. And their survival and everything they cherish depends on whether they can surrender to each other--to fight for their...

MONTANA DESTINY

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author R.C. Ryan has written more than ninety fiction novels, both contemporary and historical. Quite an accomplishment for someone who, after her fifth child started school, gave herself the gift of an hour a day to follow her dream to become a writer.

The Lost, an anthology of stories by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, and R.C. Ryan writing as Ruth Ryan Langan was published in Fall 2009. Ms. Ryan’s story, “The Legacy,” is an exciting tale of intrigue and other-worldly adventure.  

In a career spanning more than twenty years, Ms. Ryan has given dozens of radio, television, and print interviews across the country and Canada, and has been quoted in such diverse publications as the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan. She has also appeared on CNN News, as well as Good Morning America.

Five Fun Facts

1)  I admire risk-takers: people who, despite all the odds, make a leap of faith and go for the gold. That's why I had such fun with both Wyatt McCord and Marilee Trainor. These two are perfectly suited.

2)  I was intrigued with the idea of a world-traveler coming back to his roots on a Montana ranch and contending with the small-town life he knew when he was a kid. In this series we see the pros and cons of life in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else's business. People can be labeled in their early years, positively or negatively, and can spend a lifetime trying to shake that label. Wyatt McCord, the eternal surfer, is seen as nothing more than a shallow heart-throb. A wanderer who will soon tire of life in a small town and move on to more exciting adventures, as did his parents. But Wyatt refuses to be labeled. A man comfortable in his own skin, Wyatt has already sampled what the world beyond this town has to offer, and knows that this place of his childhood will always own his heart.

3)  When I began this story, I had no hint of Marilee's past before she arrived in Gold Fever. Little by little, as she revealed herself to Wyatt, I discovered a multi-layered personality that I found fascinating. I realized that she needed closure in her war with her father, a war she didn’t even realize she was still fighting. Like so many people whose family members have passed on before old issues can be finalized, remnants of pain lingers and festers. Her relationship with her father colored all her decisions, and almost prevented her from opening herself up to all the possibilities of love.

4)  I love the name Wyatt. It speaks to me of the old West and straight-shooting Marshal Wyatt Earp in Tombstone Territory.

5)  Every time I wrote Marilee I thought: "we roll along, roll along, roll along..." Sorry. Couldn't resist. But her name IS musical, and that's such a familiar childhood song.

Become a Fan of R.C. Ryan on Facebook

Visit her Website

Blog Tour & Giveaway : Ravished by a Highlander by Paula Quinn

Thanks to Anna Balasi of Hatchette Books, I am able to give away 5 copies of Ravished by a Highlander by Paula Quinn!  

About the Book

Ravished by a Highlander by Paula Quinn

Release Date : April 27, 2010

Historical Romance

FORBIDDEN LOVE

Davina Montgomery is no ordinary English lady. For her own protection, she's been locked away from society, her true identity the Crown's most closely guarded secret. Until a shocking betrayal--and a bold rescue--land her in the arms of a fierce Highlander, a powerful warrior whose searing gaze and tantalizing touch awaken her body and soul.

UNDENIABLE DESIRE

As the firstborn son of a powerful Scottish laird, Robert MacGregor has no loyalty to the English throne, but he's not the kind of man to leave a woman in distress, even if she is English. He vows to deliver Davina to safety, unharmed and untouched. Yet one stolen kiss leaves them both smoldering with desire...and desperate for more. With Davina's secret threatening to destroy his clan, Rob must choose between everything he holds dear and the one woman he can't live without.

RAVISHED BY A HIGHLANDER

About the Author

I was the kid in school who raced to get to English class, especially on Poetry day. There just wasn't anything better than standing in the front of an audience and reading moving prose. Of course, Sister Mary Elizabeth didn't consider Bad Company lyrics stunning verse, but I made sure to toss some Edgar Allen Poe into the pot for balance. The true thrill came from reading my own work. I still have every journal, and there were many, stashed away in my closet, each page filled with my careful script, i's dotted with hearts.

I typed my very first novel on an Adam computer. Yes, that's Adam, not Apple. A paranormal romance (the first one of it's kind in the early eighties) but no one was interested, much to my shock and amazement. Will I admit it was a cheesy novel? Never! I still have it, dot matrix as black as the day it was first printed up.

Putting away my trusty Adam, I went on to bigger and better things, like marrying my childhood sweetheart and having three children. But I once read that authors don't choose to write; writing chooses them, and there were an endless store of characters in my head to prove it. So we traded in the Adam for an Apple. I promised my husband that I wouldn't be gone long, and off to Camelot I went. Most of me returned home, but there's a part that remained in the medieval world of knights, castles, and chivalry. I've since brought my family there and they love it as much as I do, although I suspect my husband was a crusader knight long before I envisioned him in a red cross tabard. But that's another story entirely. I think I'll write it in pen and dot my I's with hearts.

I'm a disgustingly sappy romantic moved by music, beautiful words, and the sight of a really nice pen. I live in Manhattan with my knight in shining armor. We have three beautiful children, two dogs and too many reptiles to count. I love to read romance and science fiction and have been writing since I was eleven. I'm a faithful believer in God and thank Him daily for all the blessings in my life. I love all things medieval, but it’s my love for Scotland that pulls at my heartstrings.

Enter the Contest!

Fill out the entry form below for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Ravished by a Highlander by Paula Quinn.

Entry Form

Deadline May 17, 2010 @ Midnight

US & Canadian Residents Only.  No PO Boxes.

Blog Tour : Daughter Am I by Pat Bertram

Daughter Am I

Blog Tour

Description

When twenty-five-year old Mary Stuart learns she inherited a farm from her recently murdered grandparents-grandparents her father claimed had died before she was born - she beomes obsessed with finding out who they were and why someone wanted them dead. Along the way she accumulates a crew of fiesty octogenarians-former gangsters and friends of her grandfather. She meets and falls in love with Tim Olsen, who's grandfather shared a deadly secret with her great-grandfather. Now Mary and Tim need to stay one step ahead of the killer who is desperate to dig up that secret.

About the Author

Pat Bertram

http://patbertram.com

http://patbertram.wordpress.com

Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado and a lifelong resident. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book--character and story driven novels that can't easily be slotted into a genre--she decided to write her own. Daughter Am I is Bertram's third novel to be published by Second Wind Publishing, LLC. Also available are More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire.

Amazon Associates :

By clicking on cover images and title links you will be redirected to Amazon.com. In the event that you choose to purchase something after clicking these links I will receive a small percentage of the profits.

Blog Tour & Contest - Ginger High by Melissa Burmester

Ginger High

by Melissa Burmester

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Amazon :

Ginger High is no ordinary school. It is a school for students with special powers. Many years ago people came to Earth from the Kingdom of Animist, a parallel universe. Two long time friends, Matthias and Amanta, attended the school and then returned home to Animist. The school has had many unexplained deaths. Daisy Fisher attends the school after her old school burns down. Matthias and Amanta are called back to the school to help solve the mysteries. What are powers? And what is with this crazy school? Welcome to Ginger High.

Trailer :

About the Author

Melissa Burmester is 14 years old and is presently living with her parents and twin brother in East Moriches, NY. She has been writing about vampires and the supernatural since she was 12 years old, although Ginger High is her first novel. She attends West Hampton Beach High School, and plans to be a writer and teacher.

Contest

Thanks to author Melissa Burmester I am able to give away 2 copies of Ginger High. In order to enter please fill out the form below with all the neccessary answers.

Extra Entry - Leave a comment below!

Privacy Policy

In the event that you win your address will only be forwarded to the author for prize distribution. The author, or myself, will not distribute it for any other purpose.

If you win, and you are under the age of 18, please have a parent or guardian email me for permissions to have the prize sent to you.

Deadline November 6, 2009 @ 11:59 PM Est.
US Residents Only, sorry!

Blog Tour : Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

Day by Day Armageddon

by J.L. Bourne

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Amazon :

START INTERCEPT

SPORADIC NEW REPORTS INDICATE CHAOS AND VIOLENCE SPREADING THROUGH U.S. CITIES. AN UNKNOWN EVIL IS SWEEPING THE PLANET. THE DEAD ARE RISING TO CLAIM THE EARTH AS THE NEW DOMINANT SPECIES IN THE FOOD CHAIN.

INTERCEPT COMPLETE

SURVIVOR,

In your hands is the hand written journal depicting one man's struggle for survival. Trapped in the midst of global disaster, he must make decisions; choices that ultimately mean life, or the eternal curse to walk as one of them.

ENTER IF YOU WILL INTO HIS WORLD. THE WORLD OF THE UNDEAD.

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Click Here for a Full List of Blogs on this Tour

Blog Tour : 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton

31 Hours by Masha Hamilton

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Unbridled Books :

A woman in New York awakens knowing, as deeply as a mother’s blood can know, that her grown son is in danger. She has not heard from him in weeks. His name is Jonas. His girlfriend, Vic, doesn’t know what she has done wrong, but Jonas won’t answer his cell phone. We soon learn that Jonas is isolated in a safe-house apartment in New York City, pondering his conversion to Islam and his experiences training in Pakistan, preparing for the violent action he has been instructed to take in 31 hours. Jonas’s absence from the lives of those who love him causes a cascade of events, and as the novel moves through the streets and subways of New York we come to know intimately the lives of its characters. We also learn to feel deeply the connections and disconnections that occur between young people and their parents not only in this country but in the Middle East as well.

Carried by Hamilton’s highly-lauded prose, this story about the helplessness of those who cannot contact a beloved young man who is on a devastatingly confused path is compelling on the most human level. In our world, when a family loses track of an idealistic son an entire city could be in danger. From the author of The Distance Between Us.

Excerpt

A wolf ’s howl. But more shrill, more prolonged. Carol sat fully upright, an inhale caught in her chest, before she realized there was, of course, no rabid wolf dodging Manhattan traffic. It was only winter’s wind slicing past her eleventh-floor apartment window with enough ferocity to rouse her. Then she grasped, in quick succession, that she’d been half-awake before the noise began, that her stomach hurt, and that her mind was filled with Jonas. Herson. Her wild-haired precious. When he was tiny, on a frenzied night like this, he would have snuggled with her in this very bed, bare toes pressing against her leg. Now he extended over six feet, and though he hugged, he didn’t snuggle. God, where had those days gone?

More important: Where was he now?

She lay back down, reached to pull a pillow close, and smoothed her forehead with a hand as if wiping dust from a table. She wondered if she could will herself back to sleep but doubted it. Her most successful years of slumber stretched from Jonas’s birth through his toddlerhood, when the basics felt simple and pure and her arms had been full of husband and baby, potter’s clay and homemade bread. Through the remaining, darker days of marriage, divorce, and the occasional lover, erratic sleep became the status quo. Still, whenever she awakened in the wee hours, she wanted nothing more than to breathe in time with another human body—a desire that pointed to a primitive quality in her, she thought, one not suited to this modern life.At age forty-eight, she still wasn’t used to sleeping alone.

When Jake was already gone and Jonas still a boy, she would sometimes crawl into her young son’s bed, rest a hand on his tummy, and match her breath to his. Often, if her presence woke him—she hadn’t thought of this in years—he would lull himself back to sleep by twirling her hair with his fingers, as if they were joined. He was so small then that air passed through his body at a pace more urgent than soothing. But the rise and fall of his stomach connected her to nothing less than the universe itself. Jonas saved her from facing her own mortalityduring those long nights. Next to him, imagining herself a kite finally cut free of its string, she slept. That perfect boy with his drowsy warm scent and hair falling on the pillow like a piece of art. Why hadn’t he returned her calls?

About the Author

Masha Hamilton

For ten years, Masha Hamilton worked as a foreign correspondent overseas, first for the Associated Press in the Middle East and then as a Moscow correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. Masha covered the intifada the peace process, and the partial Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Later, she reported on the coup and collapse of the Soviet Union and the growing independence in Soviet Republics as well as Kremlin politics. She reported from Afghanistan in the spring of 2004. She currently lives with her family in New York City, where she teaches for Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She is also the author of another novel, Staircase of a Thousand Steps. Author photo by Briana Orr.

Blog Tour & Guest Post : Lucan by Susan Kearney

Lucan by Susan Kearney

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Hatchette :

Healer and high priestess of her people, Lady Cael is fated to life without a mate. But a mysterious explorer named Lucan Rourke doesn't know her secrets, and his touch makes her crave a future that her extraordinary birthright has forbidden her. . .

Lucan has just one mission on Pendragon: to find the mythical Holy Grail, Earth's only hope for survival. His powerful attraction to Cael is a distraction he can't afford, unless he convinces her to join forces with him. Yet working so closely together only heightens their passion . . . even when the terrifying truth of Cael's heritage threatens to shatter Lucan's every belief-and the galaxy itself.

About the Author & Guest Post

Kearney is known for her sexy Rystani warrior books, The Challenge, The Dare, The Ultimatum and The Quest, a series of paranormal romances set in the future. In September 2009 Kearney begins the Pendragon Legacy series with LUCAN, a futuristic romance. She follows up with RION in December and JORDAN in March 2010.

Kearney, a native of New Jersey, writes full time and has sold books to the industries' top publishing houses — Grand Central, Tor, Simon & Schuster, Harlequin, Berkley, Leisure, Red Sage and Kensington. As an award winning author, Kearney earned a Business Degree from the University of Michigan. Kearney's knowledge and experience spans throughout the romance genre, and her fifty plus books include contemporary, romantic suspense, historical, futuristic, science fiction and paranormal novels. She resides in a suburb of Tampa—with her husband, kids and Boston terrier. Currently she's plotting her way through her 54th work of fiction. You can reach her through her web site at E-mail Susan.

Process of Writing a Fantasy Novel by Susan Kearney

Please bear in mind that I don’t think of myself as a writer but a story teller. And my process for creating a story always seems to start with a “What if.” For example, when I read the headline in my newspaper, Male Fertility Down 30% Worldwide, I started playing What if? What if the sterility rate went to hundred percent?

What if humanity was about to die?

But what could save us? Now I’ve always had a thing for legends. So I thought what if we could find the Holy Grail? According to legend, King Arthur left the Holy Grail in Avalon before he died. But legends tell us that Avalon receded into the mists and no archeologist has ever found Avalon or the Grail.

What if we couldn’t find Avalon because it wasn’t on Earth? That would mean my archeologist Lucan would have to find a star map in Arthur’s ancient castle in Cadbury, then take a spaceship to the Planet Pendragon to search for the Holy Grail.

Now since Pendragon means Master of Dragons, I figured we needed a dragon on Pendragon.

That’s kind of how my mind works; one clue leads to another. However, common things in my daily life also stimulate the fantasy in my books.

I’ll give you another example. While on vacation in the Far East, I took lots of pictures of dragons. I’ve included a few that I hope will make it into this blog. Because Dragons are found in many cultures across our world, it shouldn’t seem that far-fetched to find them on another planet. Right?

Okay, so now I have built a world from playing What If. But now I need my love story. Conflict is good. Without it life is boring. So why not have my hero and heroine both going after the Grail. But while they’re competitors, they have a common enemy—just to complicate their lives. And what if they fall in love? Only one of them can have the Grail. And then what if my hero can either save Earth or the woman he loves?

So my process to write a story is to play What if? I don’t censor my thoughts. I don’t say -–oh that’s too strange—I leave that to reviewers. :)

In the end, The Pendragon Legacy trilogy, LUCAN, RION, and JORDAN are unique and so are my characters. But the stories are about how my characters react to all the problems I throw at them. What if she saves his life? What if he finds the Grail, but must trade it to save her?
All right. You get the idea. It would be even better if you get the book.

You can see a cool video and read an excerpt at http://www.susankearney.com/

Make sure to visit all the other stops on this tour!

Just Another New Blog - September 9th, Giveaway
Book Soulmates - September 9th, Review/Giveaway/Q&A
Starting Fresh - September 9th, Review/Guest Post
Falling Off The Shelf - September 10th, Review/Giveaway/Guest Post
Maria's Space - September 10th, Review/Giveaway
Seductive Musings - Q&A
A Journey of Books - September 11th, Review/Giveaway/Q&A
My Guilty Pleasures - September 12th, Review
Yankee Romance Reviewers - September 14th, Review/Giveaway/Q&A
Found Not Lost - September 14th, Review/Giveaway
Book Wormy Girl - September 15th, Giveaway
Libby's Library News - September 16th, Guest Post/Giveaway
Bookin' With Bingo - September 17th, Review/Giveaway/Q&A
My Book Addiction and More - September 17th, Review/Giveaway/Q&A
Cheryl's Book Nook - September 17th, Review/Giveaway
Carol's Notebook - September 18th, Review/Giveaway/Guest Post
Books and Needlepoint - September 18th, Review/Giveaway
Drey's Library - September 19th, Review/Guest Post
Anna's Book Blog - September 20th, Review/Giveaway
Bibliophiles R' Us - September 2oth, Review/Givaway
Patricia's Vampire Notes - September 21st, Giveaway
A Park Avenue Princess - September 21st, Giveaway
Book Nerd Extraordinaire - September 22st, Giveaway/Guest Post
Readaholic - Review/Giveway/Q&A

Blog Tour : A Better View of Paradise by Randy Sue Coburn

A Better View of Paradise by Randy Sue Coburn

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Fantastic Fiction

A deeply satisfying novel that explores the tender bond between fathers and daughters, and celebrates the redemptive power of forgiveness and love - sometimes found in the most unexpected places.

Thirty-six-year-old Stevie Pollack has earned fame and praise for her landscape architecture projects, though critics complain she's too formal, too rigid. But when her boyfriend abruptly drops her, and her Chicago lakefront development project is panned, Stevie flees to Hawaii, where she spent her childhood with her emotionally distant father.

Hank Pollack has returned to the islands for a very different reason; he's dying. As father and daughter mend fences, Stevie discovers new emotional depths within her father as well as a startling, hidden past.

Shocking revelations force Stevie to undergo a personal transformation both uncertain and exciting. With Hank's help - and the very agreeable attentions of a handsome local veterinarian - Stevie learns to surrender her inhibitions and seize every beautiful day in a reconfigured paradise.

About The Author

Randy Sue Coburn
Randy Sue Coburn began her career as a journalist whose essays and articles appeared in numerous national magazines and major newspapers. Her screenplays include Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, the 1994 film about Dorothy Parker that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won Jennifer Jason Leigh the National Society of Film Critics Award for best actress. Film work and teaching at The University of Washington subsidized the writing of Remembering Jody, (1999, Carroll & Graf), and Randy Sue’s second novel, Owl Island, was published in June, 2006 by Ballantine, a division of Random House Publishing Group. A Better View of Paradise, also from Random House/Ballantine, is being published in July, 2009. Born in Chicago and raised in South Carolina, Randy Sue is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The University of Georgia. She lives along the waterfront in downtown Seattle and relishes morning strolls through the Pike Place Market with Binx, a floppy-eared terrier known by name to many more vendors in the Pike Place Market than his mistress.

Blog Tour & Contest : Dark Hunger by Rita Herron

Dark Hunger by Rita Herron

Blog Tour

Description from Hatchette Books :

Reporter Annabelle Armstrong will go to any lengths to deliver a story, even track down Quinton Valtrez, a man she believes is a coldhearted assassin. Yet the truth about the darkly sensual Quinton is even more shocking...and the overwhelming desire he ignites is one she vows to resist.

Quinton has fought his demonic powers since he was a child. Now using his gifts for the good of national security, he can't let himself be distracted by the beautiful, determined Annabelle. But his need for her is sudden, fierce--and could soon cost Annabelle her life. For a wicked enemy is out for vengeance, a demon who wants to draw Quinton into a life of pure evil and is willing to use Annabelle as bait. To save her, Quinton must achieve the near impossible: tame the sinister force that is both his inheritance and his curse before it claims him forever.

About the Author :

Author Website

Rita Herron is an award-winning author of more than 30 romantic suspense novels for Harlequin and Dorchester. In 2007 alone, she was nominated for two Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards, including a Career Achievement Award.

Five Fun Facts

1. I set Dark Hunger in three of my favorite cites, Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans because they’re all haunted and possess an eerie atmosphere – perfect places for the Death Angel. The B & B with the outdoor garden where Annabelle stays in Savannah is fashioned after a B & B where my husband and I stayed. And Shayla Larue is modeled after a voodoo priestess I met at the RWA conference in New Orleans.

2. Emily Nelson, the social worker in the book, is named after my daughter who’s a dedicated social worker in real life.

3. The idea of the Death Angel taking a vulture’s form came from a brainstorming session with two author friends at a writer’s retreat near Charleston. I’d been flirting with other forms but, when the vulture idea came up, I knew it was perfect—creepy and symbolic of bad luck, evil and death.

4. Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds inspired me as I was writing Dark Hunger. I also envisioned David Gray’s song “One With the Birds” as the soundtrack for the movie.

5. When I was a child, I knew a preacher who inspired me to create Reverend Narius. He was a hellfire and damnation type who yelled and stalked up and down the aisles during his sermon. It was as if he was singling you out to let you know you were going to hell. I was terrified of him!

Giveaway :

Thanks to Anna Balasi of Hatchette Books, I am able to give away 5 copies of Dark Hunger by Rita Herron! Along with those 5 copies, winners will each receive a signed bookmark to go with their book! Isn't that great?

To ENTER you MUST post a COMMENT including a VALID EMAIL ADDRESS, no email, no entry.

Extra Entries :

+1 Become a Follower (Existing Followers mention you are for an entry)
+1 Become a Twitter Follower ; my username is jennilovevirgo (mention username ; Existing Followers mention that you are for entry)
+1 Subscribe to the Feed (post a comment saying that you did)
+2 Post about this contest on your blog / twitter (post a link please)

Happy Birthday Entry :

+1 If you already told me your birthdate in a previous post (I have recorded all birthdates), and your birthdate falls within the Start and Finish of this contest! You will not get an entry if your birthday falls between these dates if you did not post your bithdate into a previous post.

Deadline September 5th, 2009 @ 11:59pm Est.
US & Canada Residents Only. No PO Boxes.

Blog Tour : Laced With Magic by Barbara Bretton

Laced With Magic by Barbara Bretton

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Author Website :

Knit shop owner and sorcerer's daughter Chloe Hobbs felt the Fates finally got it right when she met Luke MacKenzie. And no one could have convinced her otherwise—including the trolls, selkies, or spirits who also call Sugar Maple, Vermont, home. But then out of nowhere Luke's ex-wife suddenly shows up, claiming to see the spirit of their daughter, Steffie—a daughter Chloe knows nothing about.


Steffie's spirit is being held hostage by a certain Fae leader. And if Chloe weaves a spell to free her spirit, her nemesis will also be free—free to destroy her yarn shop and all of Sugar Maple. But if she doesn't, Steffie won't be the only one spending eternity in hell. Chloe'll be joining her, cursed with a broken heart.

Visit

Barbara Bretton


Order From

Amazon.com

Participating Bloggers

Aug. 3 @ Dear Author (guest post) http://www.dearauthor.com/


Aug. 4 @ Blogcritics (interview) http://www.blogcritics.org/


Aug. 5 @ Popin's Lair (guest post) http://www.proudbookworm.blogspot.com/


Aug. 6 @ Popin's Lair (book review) http://www.proudbookworm.blogspot.com/


Aug. 7 @Undercover Book Lover (book review) http://www.undercoverbooklover.blogspot.com/


Aug. 10 @ Chick with Books (book review) http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/
and
Home Sweet Home Writing Challenge (interview)
http://www.homesweethomewritingchallenge.wordpress.com/


Aug. 11 @ Bookin with Bingo (book review and book giveaway)
http://www.bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/


Aug. 12 @ A Bookish Mom (guest post) http://www.abookishmom.blogspot.com/
and

This Book for Free (guest post & book giveaway)
http://www.thisbookforfree.com/


Aug. 13 @Patricia's Vampire Notes (Interview & Book Giveaway)
http://www.patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com/


Aug. 14 @ The Writer's Life (interview) http://www.thewriterslife.blogspot.com/


Aug. 17 @ The Writer's Life (guest post) http://www.thewriterslife.blogspot.com/


Aug. 18 @Cafe of Dreams (book review) http://www.cafeofdreams.blogspot.com/


Aug. 19 @ Must Read Faster (book review) http://www.mustreadfaster.blogspot.com/


Aug. 20 @ Patricia's Vampire Notes (book review)
http://www.patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com/

Aug. 21 @Falling Off the Shelf (book review)
http://www.fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com/


Aug. 24 @Chick Loves Lit (book review) http://www.chickloveslit.blogspot.com/


Aug. 25 @So Many Books, So Little Time (book review) http://www.purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/


Aug. 26 @ I'm Booking It (book review) http://www.imbookingit.wordpress.com/


Aug. 27 @ Bibliophiles Are Us (guest post) http://www.nightdweller20.wordpress.com/


Aug. 28 @ A Journey of Books (book review) http://www.ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/

Blog Tour : Bleak History by John Shirley

Bleak History by John Shirley

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description from Pocket Books :

CLASSIFIED: APPARENT SUPERNATURAL

Subject: Gabriel Bleak. Status: Civilian. Paranormal skills: Powerful. Able to manipulate AS energies and communicate with UBEs (e.g. "ghosts" and other entities). Psychological profile: Extremely independent, potentially dangerous. Caution is urged....

As far as Gabriel Bleak is concerned, talking to the dead is just another way of making a living. It gives him the competitive edge to survive as a bounty hunter, or "skip tracer," in the psychic minefield known as New York City. Unfortunately, his gift also makes him a prime target. A top-secret division of Homeland Security has been monitoring the recent emergence of human supernaturals, with Gabriel Bleak being the strongest on record. If they control Gabriel, they'll gain access to the Hidden -- the entity-based energy field that connects all life on Earth. But Gabriel's got other ideas. With a growing underground movement called the Shadow Community -- and an uneasy alliance of spirits, elementals, and other beings -- Gabriel's about to face the greatest demonic uprising since the Dark Ages. But this time, history is not going to repeat itself. This time, the future is Bleak. Gabriel Bleak.

Visit

John Shirley

Order From

Amazon.com

Participating Bloggers

I Heart Monster: http://www.iheartmonster.com/

Debbie’s World of Books: http://debbiesworldofbooks.com/

Sci-Fi Guy: http://www.scifiguy.ca/

A Journey of Books: http://ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/

Simply Vamptastic: http://www.simplyvamptastic.com/

Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

Booksie’s Blog: http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

Falling Off The Shelf: http://fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com/

Patricia’s Vampire Notes: http://patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com/

My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/

Reading With Monie: http://www.readingwithmonie.com/

Cheryl’s Book Nook: http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/

Morbid Romantic: http://www.morbid-romantic.net/

Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

Temple Library Reviews: http://templelibraryreviews.blogspot.com/

Jeanne’s Ramblings: http://jeannesgifts.blogspot.com/

Never Not Reading: http://nevernotreading.blogspot.com/

My Guilty Pleasures: http://www.mgpblog.com/

Fantasy Freak: http://fantastyfreak.blogspot.com/

Blog Tour - Seduce Me by Robyn DeHart

Seduce Me by Robyn DeHart

Blog Tour

Read My Review

Description From Hatchette :

Fielding Grey is the second son of the Marquess of Eldon and fortune hunter by night. He's on a mission for the Legend Hunters--a group of wealthy, titled, and heart-breakingly gorgeous men, each of whom are after the find of the century--he has his eyes set on obtaining the illustrious Pandora's Box. But before he finds it, he encounters an equally alluring treasure--the woman bold enough to look inside.

Esme Worthington can't resist taking the tiniest peek inside when fate drops the real Pandora's Box in her lap. Thus, she unleashes one of Pandora's irresistible curses: the curse of lust. Now, both Esme and Fielding must deal with this passionate curse--or blessing?--before unknown implications of Pandora's Box overpower them both.

About the Author :

Robyn DeHart has published four books with Avon: Courting Claudia, A Study in Scandal, Deliciously Wicked, and Tempted At Every Turn. Known for her unique plotlines and authentic characters, Robyn is a favorite among readers and reviewers. Publishers' Weekly claims her writing to be "comical and sexy" while the Chicago Tribune dubs her "wonderfully entertaining." A two-time Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice award nominee, Robyn has earned 4 star and 4 ¿ star top pick reviews on all her books and Kathe Robin says, "Like Amanda Quick, DeHart [will] keep you up all night."

Five Fun Facts :

1. To date, Esme Worthington is my favorite heroine I’ve ever written. Esme says whatever she’s thinking, and she’s brave with a wicked sense of humor.

2. The first three chapters of Seduce Me practically wrote themselves; they went so quickly and were so much fun. The rest of the book proved more challenging, but was still fun nonetheless.

3. The concept behind the cursed bracelets in Seduce Me was gently borrowed from The Mummy Returns. Come to find out there are actually real-life Pandora bracelets that are quite popular.

4. I have a degree in Sociology with a focus on deviant behavior. Seduce Me was the first book where I was able to apply my education to create a mastermind criminal.

5. The concept behind the Legend Hunters series and the gentleman’s club Solomon’s came from my love of archaeology and treasure hunting as well as great adventure/romance movies like Indiana Jones and The Mummy.

Visit

Robyn DeHart

Order From

Amazon.com

Participating Bloggers

Aug 1-14th

http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/

http://www.thebookgirl.net/

Aug 2nd

http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

Aug 3rd

http://alphaheroes.blogspot.com/

http://carolsnotebook.wordpress.com/

Aug 4th

http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/

http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

Aug 5th

http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/

http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

Aug 6th

http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/

http://www.mgpblog.com/

Aug 7th

http://ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/

http://hotdealsbybec.com/

Aug 9th

http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/

Aug 10th

http://reesspace.blogspot.com/

http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/

Aug 11th

http://kayespenguinposts.blogspot.com/

http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/

Aug 12th

http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/

http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/

http://nightdweller20.wordpress.com/

Aug 13th

http://mustreadfaster.blogspot.com/
http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com/

Aug 14th

http://www.thisbookforfree.com/

http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/

http://trinsnook.blogspot.com/

http://fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com/

http://aparkavenueprincess.blogspot.com/